The present invention relates to monitoring rail operations and transport of commodities via rail. Such commodities include crude oil, coal, natural gas liquid derivatives or condensates, refined petroleum products, ethanol, biofuels, and other energy commodities, as well as agricultural commodities, including corn and soybeans.
Energy commodities comprise a multi-billion dollar economic market. These commodities are bought and sold by many parties, and as with any traded market, information about the traded commodities is very valuable to market participants. Specifically, information about transportation of these commodities can have significant impacts on the price of these commodities. Furthermore, such information generally is not disclosed publicly, and access to such information is therefore limited.